James Wan Back in for CBS’ Revamped ‘MacGyver’ Pilot

CBS’ proposed young MacGyver reboot has ben raising eyebrows for a few months now, ordered to series despite a near-total discard of the original pilot, but at least some good news is in order. Not only is Furious 7 and The Conjuring director James Wan back in to helm the pilot, but so too have new details of the revamped story arrived.

Wan had been shepherding the project from its initial concept as a movie, and previously booked the pilot directing gig until conflict with The Conjuring 2 saw him replaced with David Von Ancken. Per Deadline, Wan has been freed up to direct Lucas Till and George Eads in the new pilot, changes of which read thusly:

In the original pilot MacGyver was recruited into the clandestine organization from the original series where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening.

MacGyver now creates a clandestine organization within the U.S. government where he uses his extraordinary talent for unconventional problem solving and vast scientific knowledge to save lives. Eads will play a new character, maverick former CIA agent Jack Dalton, who joins MacGyver team on high-risk missions around the globe. Under the aegis of the Department of External Services, MacGyver takes on the responsibility of saving the world, armed to the teeth with resourcefulness and little more than bubble gum and a paper clip.

For those unaware, the original MacGyver starred Richard Dean Anderson and ran for an impressive seven seasons on ABC, preceding two made-for-TV movies in the ‘90s. Not only that, but former CW home The WB even attempted a Young MacGyver with a pre-SupernaturalJared Padalecki, ultimately passing on the project.

You can watch the (now-defunct) trailer below, and stay tuned for more MacGyver news.